Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Revisiting my 2012 Goals

Happy July 4th!


Since its an important holiday about half way through the year, I thought it would be a good idea to review my 2012 goals today.  Without further ado, he are my goals in bold, followed by my update:

1.  Get a new job.  Mission accomplished!  I started at my new job on February 27th.  I do miss my old friends at the old place, but it was time to move on.  The company is not in the best financial position, and I had taken a paycut.  I actually heard not too long ago that if I hadn't left, someone would have been laid off, so it sounds like I made the right choice. And as for the new job?  Well, my pay increased by a great deal, the company is huge and not going anywhere, but more importantly, I like the job and feel like I have a real opportunity there.


2.  Move into a less expensive apartment.  Also done; as my rent decreased by 60 dollars a month in April.  I know 60 dollars a month isn't much, but the place is much nicer than my last one, is closer to my job (which is really important to me) and is much more quiet.  All in all, a good move.


3.  Start maxing out my 401k.  I actually decided against fulfilling this goal, however I did more than double my contribution.  In the 4 months I've been with my new job, I've contributed more to my 401k than I did at my old job all of last year!  I do plan on maxing this out some day, but not this year.

4.  Contribute as much as possible to my roth IRA.   I was able to contribute the maximum $5000 for 2011; what I bought with it is detailed here.  I plan on doing the same thing for 2012, but like 2011, it will have to wait until 2013, when I get a better idea of my MAGI.


5.  Increase my dividend income by $2000 next year.  When I wrote this, I was making $18,000 a year in dividends.  Due to a few nice dividend increases and purchases, my projected dividend totals for the next 12 months is now $20,700!  I obviously blew this goal out of the water, and I'm now aiming to add $1300 in more dividend income for the year, for an even $22,000.

Well, there you have it; its been a great 6 months financially!  Here's to a great 2nd half of 2012!

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